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SPORTS ARCHIVE

Huskies Bring Home 3 of 4 points

01/28/2013 -
2:00 AM

After ten straight home games dating back to December 7th, the Huskies hit the road to Grand Forks to play a weekend series against the University to North Dakota. The Huskies came back home three points richer and in sole possession of first place in WCHA.

Friday’s game was in St. Cloud State’s favor from start to finish. Jonny Brodzinski put the Huskies on the board just past the four minute mark of the first period on a shot from the right faceoff circle that snuck its way past UND goaltender Zane Gothberg for Brodzinski’s tenth goal of the season. Then, at the 16:36 mark of the first, senior co-captain Ben Hanowski added his ninth goal of the season with a shot from the slot to put the Huskies up 2-0, which would be the score after the first frame.

While there were no goals scored in the second, SCSU was still able to dominate the period, controlling the puck for most of the period and outshooting UND 11-5. The shots on goal after the first two periods were 18-8 in favor of SCSU. The eight shots on goal for UND was a season low after two periods of play.

Jonny Brodzinski struck the back of the net again in the third period at the 7:35 mark to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead. It was his second of the game and twelfth of the season. The score would remain 3-0 until Rocco Grimaldi scored a tip-in power-play goal from the slot to finally put UND on the board with 6:11 left to play in the game, and spoiling a shutout opportunity for SCSU goaltender Ryan Faragher. Faragher finished the night with 15 saves on 16 shots, and survived a late flurry of shots in the final minute of the game.

Saturday night featured a more even affair but this time by North Dakota had the slight advantage. UND came out flying to start the game, but it was the Huskies that found the back of the net first. A powerplay goal by Ben Hanowski, his tenth of the season and second of the weekend put the Huskies up 1-0. The Huskies got another powerplay shortly thereafter, but UND was able to steal the puck and bring it into the SCSU zone. That's where Corban Knight was able to find Danny Kristo for a shorthanded goal. UND wasn’t done yet, and at the 15:45 mark of the first, Corban Knight scored a goal of his own to put North Dakota up 2-1 after one.

The Huskies were quickly able to notch the game back up at two less than two minutes into the second period with Ben Hanowski’s second goal of the game, third of the weekend, and 11th of the season. The goal from Hanowski would end up being the last goal of the game, thanks to the play goaltenders Ryan Faragher and Clark Saunders. The rest of the second period was penalty-filled as both teams racked up ten penalty minutes in the period. UND also outshot SCSU 9-4 in the second, and held a 24-12 advantage after two.

The third period was goal-free and penalty-free. Both teams gave everything they had to try and gain a lead. Ryan Faragher was brilliant in the third, single-handedly keeping the game tied for SCSU, stopping all nine shots he saw, including three more after a scoreless overtime period, and ended the night with 34 saves.

The tie marked the first tie of the season for the Huskies. The three points earned gives the Huskies 25 points total for the season. Minnesota, who entered the weekend tied for first place in the WCHA split their series against Minnesota State. The Gophers now have 24 points, just one shy of SCSU who sits atop of the WCHA standings this week.

St. Cloud State moved up in USCHO rankings again this week, now sitting in 12th place. They made waves in the PairWise rankings over the weekend as well, now holding down 9th place. The Huskies also received some notice in the USA Hockey polls, sitting in 13th place.

The Huskies are back on the road this weekend to the Sanford Center in Bemidji to take on the Bemidji State Beavers. Both games will be aired on 88.1 FM and online. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:37 PM on Friday, and 7:07 on Saturday. For news and updates, check out our twitter.